Events

The study visit was a great experience in the area of Georgian non-governmental organizations which are working with marginalized youth, particularly with

Internally Displaced youth, and young people that are living in secondary cities and rural areas.

We have found out main issues of these categories of youth, and tried to plan some projects, which can improve connections between Georgian NGO sector and other countries, help young people to solve their problems in education, unemployment, etc.

Also, we were introduced to how these organizations include volunteering and international encounters into their work to empower their target group.

During the visits we have been in such cities: Tbilisi, Rustavi, Ozurgeti, Zugdidi, Kobuleti and Batumi.

We have reached the project’s objectives:
1. We got a better understanding of youth work and local and international volunteering in Georgia.
2. We discovered a part of the voluntary sector in Georgia.
3. We have exchanged experience and “best practice”. 4. Planed new volunteering projects between EU and EECA Partner Countries.

Of course such projects which connects people from many countries it’s a great intercultural experience where I met very nice persons from Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Ukraine, Latvia, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Germany, Italy, Portugal. I am very thankful to all of them, also to the sending organization (CEDES) and hosting organization (Academy for Peace and Development) for giving this great opportunity to take part in such projects.

The aim of the project was to train participants and empower them with competencies in organizing, implementing, evaluating and planning an effective Youth Exchange in the framework of Youth in Action Program. Therefore, I had a strong incentive to be a participant and acquire essential knowledge in this field.

Being par

t of the team of more than 18 young people, from different countries was a great opportunity to make new intercultural bounds and share experience at international level. Additionally, we as leaders, were provided with new ideas and prospective for managing long-rate issues related to the youth exchanges. For instance we have got an insight about intercultural learning, working with international groups, learning in the YE, inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities, group dynamics and more. Regarding to all these, we had a great opportunity to share impressions and points of view, since we worked and learned within a multicultural group. So, as for the training all my expectancies have been meet and fulfilled. The Youthpass Certificate we all have been given, certifies our competencies, abilities and knowledge acquired. Moreover, participants have thought of creating a project of their own and implement it. Consequently, we want to put forth into action all paramount information we have gained within this training course.

As for the spare time we had, the organizers of the training course had the initiative to break the ice and initiate the “getting to know each other” process in a very efficient way. We had the traditional “visit of the city” however it was unique in its own way. It was a great opportunity to communicate

and have fun with all the participants. We felt social compatibility , we acted flexibl
e and the sense of humor was uniting our personalities. Hence, our free time activities were enjoyable and creative. Apart from strong analytic and organizational skills, the participants had specific talents either painting, singing or playing the guitar therefore we have organized a lot of creative, fun games and activities. The outcome of the evening activities we held had visible results. Especially for me, I have made new friends from all corners of Europe, we felt that the multiculturalism is not an issue in communicating and share opinions on different matters. Actually, we all

consciously applied the principle “Unit

y through Diversity”.

Hopefully, I will have so much more opportunities to being part of such training courses since they turn out to be valuable lessons for the future with paramount outcome for evolving as a cultivated personality.

marianacazacu@yahoo.com – Mariana Cazacu

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Partnership-building activity (PBA)

Gathering potentials – Developing sustainable partnerships:

Struggling Youth Unemployment in Europe mutually

02.03. – 08.03.2013. Ključ, Bosnia-Herzegovina

The last nine days were marked by a very precious experience due to the international training course within the Youth in Action Program. Besides gaining knowledge about volunteering and inclusion, I also had the opportunity to partake in the Employment training course, which was a novel approach towards non-formal education. It has been helping students and youngsters all across the European Union and its border nations. Many of whom need support and encouragement either to develop or improve their skills and connections. Furthermore, regarding the “Powder Keg” of Europe, which lately has experienced a series of political and financial irregularities, yet it still possesses great growth potential especially through the young minds. These projects represent a new perspective for many that wish to pursue their willingness to improve themselves and share their experiences with others. The non-formal education approach allows flexibility to participants’ needs that arise from different constraints created by the socio-economic factors branching from the emerging economies. Sustainability of such activities can be achieved either via increasing the quality of the information analyzed or the models employed in the process or through a ramification that will reach all the strata of the societies.

My capabilities broadened as I was taught different techniques regarding how one can improve one’s learning and working skills. They ranged from simple advices to more sophisticated analytical theories. The possibility to interact with peers from different countries and various backgrounds is a valuable asset of the project. Teamwork was one of the most important pillars of our training; however it wasn’t the only one. There were continuous discussions regarding volunteering as a powerful tool for inclusion, development of skills for matching needs of young people and job markets and also empowerment and personal development of young people, to name a few.

Here are the objectives that we reached:
to understand volunteering as a powerful tool for inclusion, empowerment and personal development of young people;
to increase ability to asses competencies of young people and develop programs that would build up on their existing ones and develop ones missing for future employment;
to develop skills for matching needs of young people and job markets;
to develop a base of competencies for implementation and facilitation of inclusive programs;
to publishing online “Manual for employable volunteering programs” to be available for wider youth worker community.

Socializing and sharing experience with people from other countries gave me knowledge about their culture and way of thinking, which I find rather enchanting. The overall impression was impressive, and even if it didn’t have a major impact on me, I’ve managed to look at volunteering from another angle. That is the pleasure in doing the right thing.

The last nine days were marked by a very precious experience due to the international training course within the Youth in Action Program. Besides gaining knowledge about volunteering and inclusion, I also had the opportunity to partake in the Employment training course, which was a novel approach towards non-formal education.
My capabilities broadened as I was taught different techniques regarding how one can improve one’s learning and working skills. Teamwork was one of the most important pillars of our training; however it wasn’t the only one. There were continuous discussions regarding volunteering as a powerful tool for inclusion, development of skills for matching needs of young people and job markets and also empowerment and personal development of young people, to name a few.

Here are the objectives that we reached:
to understand volunteering as a powerful tool for inclusion, empowerment and personal development ofyoung people;
to increase ability to asses competencies of young people and develop programs that would build up on their existing ones and develop ones missing for future employment;
to develop skills for matching needs of young people and job markets;
to develop a base of competencies for implementation and facilitation of inclusive programs;
to publishing online “Manual for employable volunteering programs” to be available for wider youth worker community.

Socializing and sharing experience with people from other countries gave me knowledge about their culture and way of thinking, which I find rather enchanting. The overall impression was impressive, and even if it didn’t have a major impact on me, I’ve managed to look at volunteering from another angle. That is the pleasure in doing the right thing. Lastly, the non-formal education approach allowed flexibility to participant’s needs and stages of group development.

Being involved during one week in an international training course within the Youth in Action Programme turned out to be an appreciable experience. Additionally, thanks to this project, I had the unique opportunity to discover part of the Balkans region by familiarizing myself with the culture of Serbia.

Mainly, this training focused on developing youth entrepreneurship and volunteerism as a tool for fighting against youth unemployment and its aim was to contribute to the fostering of social inclusion and cohesion. Therefore, it goes without saying that the effectiveness of such a project is of paramount importance for each of the participant. Apart from the benefits of multicultural exchange of information and experience I have also enlarged my cultural background about Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Slovenia. I strongly believe that this kind of activities give the participants the incentive to establish new partnerships and cooperation in the field of youth work and exchange. As for me, I assert that this training has provided thorough knowledge and outstanding ideas that design the concept of Entrepreneurship. For instance, I have gained awareness of the potentials of youth entrepreneurship as a tool for self-employment since nowadays each country has to deal with youth unemployment. Our team as a whole was so creative, innovative and committed to the daily activity programme that each day was full of valuable non-formal lessons, providing lifelong ideas and combining the learning process with constructive fun. Moreover, we all tried to turn our ideas into action by making business plans and create potential business ideas that would probably become someday a reality and not only a paper-written business dream. Actually, we were highly motivated to share real life experiences and practices with our international peers. I felt that throughout the training course all of us gained many skills which in turn will enhance our employability potential as a graduate/youth. Also, memorable for me is the second day of the project, when we where split into teams and given tasks to accomplish in the city we lived in. We had to find places on the pictures given, boil an egg and make a cube from natural material. We where so enthusiastic and creative, our potential was tested to the maximum and we discovered in the most original way the city of Bela Crkva in Serbia. So, apart from doing something worthwhile with my seven day time thorough non-formal learning about entrepreneurship I had the chance to meet people and make lifelong friends.

Furthermore, I am very thankful to the sending organization and hosting organization for giving the opportunity to me and all of the rest to take part in such trainings which turn out to be valuable experiences for the future and for our development as personalities as a whole and might even inspire to change the potential career path.

Mariana Cazacu

marianacazacu@yahoo.com

Action 3.1 Youth Exchange, Gaziantep, Turkey 19-26 November 2012

“Explore cultural diversity through the voluntarism”

This Youth Exchange turned this week of my life into an unforgettable one. Thanks to the hard work of the organizers and the information provided by the sending organization, CEDES Moldova, we had the chance to learn not only about voluntarism and its importance, but also about a total different culture and world. This experience has deeply marked me and made the Turkish society as comprehensible as fascinating for me and the rest of the participants!

The possibility of communicating with people from five different countries on the same topic highlighted the particularities of each individual, but also the similarities between concerns about modern society, regardless of source environment and age. Having direct contact with former and present EVS volunteers awakened the wish of creating a more cordial mankind through voluntarism and underlined once again the efficiency of non-formal education. The Gaziantep Youth Exchange enriched the “learning rivers” of everyone who attended it, enhancing their key competences of interpersonal, intercultural, social and civic skills; cultural expression; communication, and most important, learning to learn techniques.

A very special part of this experience consists in the intercultural sharing, which provides the opportunity to present Moldova and discover the other participant countries (Ukraine, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Turkey) from their inhabitants, free of stereotypes, rumors or subjective discriminations. This is undoubtedly a perfect position to find out the best of the volunteering in each of the present countries and enlarge your range of view on the possibilities it provides. New ideas were born, new initiatives were taken and new friends were made during the seven days spent in one of the most diverse country in the world.

I would like to mention that I am very thankful to the Turkish organizers for providing us a friendly environment, a comfy accommodation and for responding positive and speedy to all our requests and needs. I strongly believe that this was a great challenge for them, as each of the participants showed a strong leadership potential and a well-determined wish of self-affirmation. However, they managed not only to deliver new knowledge to us, but also to contribute to our personal development through the used methods and future voluntarism actions we were motivated to take.

To conclude, I would like to strongly advise everyone who is interested in personal growth, self-development, and simply in having great experiences and visiting amazing places to surely apply to a similar project. This, not only will become one of the most unforgettable times of your lives, but also will count as a pleasant and effective enlargement of your horizon of knowledge.

A wonderful week spent in a small Croatian town named Nova Gradiska has marked my personality in a very special way. On the evening of 3rd November 18 participants from 8 countries met to share their culture and to embrace a different one. Together with 3 other Croatian participants we gained the opportunity to change our views upon discrimination and racism through non-formal education, which included long daily workshops, open-air theatre, group-work, presentations and our video recording.

I very much enjoyed the project, as our trainer tried to cover all the theoretical part regarding issues like poverty, marginalization, young people with fewer opportunities and prejudices and at the same time the participants were able to share their ideas on how to deal with this problems through practical activities. The open-air theatre allowed us to wear the shoes of those people that cope everyday with discrimination as we had to play different roles, such as homeless, gay or disabled people.

Additionally, we all enjoyed the intercultural evenings where participants presented their traditional food and drinks, performed their traditional dances and songs and shared with others their historical and cultural heritage of their countries. These activities allow the participants to develop their intercultural communication competence, as we start to understand how people from different countries view world and themselves.

A part of the project was to visit Slavonia, a region where the Yugoslavian War took place. It was very interesting for all of us to walk through Osijek, Vukovar and Karanac. Although this part of the project was the most relaxing one, visiting Vukovar and MDC Memorial House ‘Ovcara’ has left a deep mark in our hearts, as this reminded us what consequences intolerance and xenophobia can have.

I would like to mention that all participants were passionately committed and haven’t hesitated to help each other during the workshop on creating our own projects. During this workshop our trainer not only showed us how we can start our own project but also shared with us his secrets and gave us useful tips for our further action.

I am very thankful for attending this training course because I had the opportunity to meet new people and to discover Croatian culture within a few days. I would further recommend to anyone interested to take part in activities of this kind, because it allows people to develop their personality through a non-formal way, to grow and to start acting.

Faithfully yours,

Tropotel Andriana

atropotel@gmail.com

Ankara Youth in Action Exchange Program

Training course in Ankara, Turkey Aug 26 – Sept 2

The Youth in Action project in Ankara was one of the greatest events of my life. It gave me an extraordinary chance to widen my horizons and embrace a whole new level of volunteering. Beside meeting a lot of new people from different countries and sharing my experience with them, I had the opportunity to learn many new things about youth employment, youth entrepreneurship and youth volunteering.

Communication with other young people from all over the world and working with them on a particular subject offered me a chance to notice that youth’s problems and their frustrations in most countries have common roots and they are mostly the same which gave us the possibility to share our own problems in Moldova, especially in the field of unemployment and migration of youth.

Preparing a presentation about youth employment was a unique experience for me, as I meet this kind of problems everyday in Moldova. I and my friends from all over Europe tried to define the main problems of this issue and find answers to them. One of our bright ideas was to create an NGO that would help young people increase their qualifications, provide guidance, assistance and tutoring for youth that are confused, undetermined about their career, which will lead undoubtedly to the increase of youth employment and growth of economy in any country.

I would have to pay my respects to the organizers of this project which provided us with all the necessities and we spent a wonderful time in Turkey for which I want to thank them very much. I am convinced that all the experience and knowledge that I gained from this project will help me in my future career and personally. Moreover, as a representative of the new generation I will try to apply all this knowledge in my country and hopefully will change something in the life of our youth in Moldova. That is why I recommend all young people that have a chance to be a volunteer and participate in this kind of projects to undoubtedly take action and involve in all the activities that will enrich their experience and qualifications.

Sincerely,

Samoila Vadim

samoil_vadim@yahoo.com

Ankara Youth in Action Exchange Program

Training course in Ankara, Turkey Aug 26 – Sept 2

I want to share my experience about Ankara Youth in Action Exchange Program that I was part of. First of all I want to mention that Ankara is a beautiful city which met us with colorful landscapes and warm people and I’ve seen magnificent places that I shall never forget. The project was very well organized and I want to thank all the people at GaziUniversity that hosted us during the project.

It was a great intercultural experience for me to be a part of such a big project with so many participants from all over the world. We shared our own experiences about youth problems, why there are so many unemployed young people, how they can start their own business and about volunteering, in which I have a lot of experience, so I could express my own ideas and experience about it.

I and my friend from Azerbaijan made a presentation about youth volunteering and about their motivation, which was a great experience for me, since I was involved in a lot of projects in my country and could share my experience with young people from different countries. I gained a lot of new friends and knowledge from this project and want to thank CEDES for giving me the chance to be a part of such a great experience.

This experience will help me a lot in my future career and this project, as many as others, provides great motivation to seek and take part in many other activities and social projects for young people that enrich your personality, your qualification and your horizons.

I want to say that even though, volunteering is not a paid job, the knowledge, the experience, the friends and all the values that you acquire it is priceless. That is why this kind of projects must be a great motivation for all the young people and to become volunteers because what they will gain will exceed their expectations.

Sincerely,

Irina Liulica

irinelL.90@mail.ru

The “Ankara youth exchange” was a wonderful experience. It completely exceeded my expectations and I can confidently affirm that it was a combination of productive and fun time. I perceive that the major goal of the project was attained. There were overall 150 participants and we all managed to get to know each other, work on projects, discuss ideas and share about the places we are from.

The first days we worked, split up in groups, for different projects. We had to think of a project plan based on current issues as: youth employment, youth entrepreneurship and leadership. This was a great opportunity to learn about different country’s perspective on these issues. We had to summarize our views and come up with a consistent plan that will reflect a best solution for our project. To me, it was a great experience to work and in a culturally diverse team with a lot of amazing people. At the end of our stay we had to present the project in front of the local authorities and university leaders.

We have visited KIMSE YOK MU,which is a local community organization in Ankara. It was very interesting to learn how they offer help to people in need and just do their best to contribute to children’s education and progress. They showed us their facilities and volunteers. We have also experienced the volunteer work loading carefully some goods.

On Friday we had an intercultural night, which I would rank as a blast. So many countries presented their national food, costumes and traditions. We shared our identity and learned so much from each other. It was the best interaction of values and perceptions filled with emotions.

The top cherry of the cake was our trip to a historical places- Cappadocia. We experienced traditional shopping, pottery art and breathtaking views of the rocky mountains. The city itself represent a vast touristic spot, moreover it is considered almost one of the wonders of the world because. The rocky formations are just immeasurably big lying on the pants of ex-volcanoes in a gorgeous variety of forms and gatherings. Honestly, I experienced a true moment of admiration and beauty contemplation.

To sum up, I would like to express my personal gratitude for the organizers, volunteers and all the people that contributed to the implementation of the project. Me, as a participant or “final consumer” I feel immensely pleased and happy that I took part in it.

“YOUTH ACTION WAYS TO PREVENT IMMIGRATION“

training course in Dalaman, Turkey 27 May-02 June

Taking part in this training course was an absolutely great experience, owing to the fact that it gave me the opportunity to discover a new topic, and to increase my knowledge about immigration, on a global and regional level. In addition I’d like to say that I found it extremely fascinating that this project wasn’t based only on studying and working on a particular subject, but, also, was well structured and organized as a youth exchange program, in which communication had had the major role.

The intercultural context provided by the participants representing different European countries impressed me the most. Also, exchanging opinions and thoughts with young people, with different views was a very enriching experience that helped me to enlarge my knowledge in various fields. I have to pay tribute to all those wonderful days that I spent in Turkey, it was a good experience, because due to the program we had a lot of time to get to know each other. The organizers meet us very well for which I thank them.

From my viewpoint the idea of preparing the presentation about the regional migration in Republic of Moldova extremely useful and helpful, due to the fact that the number of people who leave Moldova every day is growing, and the statistics are alarming. As the representative of the younger generation of Moldova, who desperately tends to leave its birth country, legally or not, for the purpose to improve their financial position, to get a job or to study, we were looking for the facts that caused this problem, as the main key in solving this critical problem. Developing this particular topic of immigration, we came to the conclusion that immigration isn’t a superficial problem as people use to think, it affects not only the economy of a certain country, but also its education and culture.

To sum up I’d say that .I am absolutely sure that the knowledge that I obtained at this training course will help me in my future career and will empower me as a citizen of my country. Moreover I think that this project wasn’t just a perfect chance for me to try to discover immigration topic, but also to discover new cultures, to meet new people, and to share with them my experience and my knowledge. Overall the whole activity was fun and very interesting and I am very glad that I got the chance to participate in it.

Sincerely,

Mostovei Irina

irina_mostovei@yahoo.com

“United by difference“

training course in Copenhagen, Denmark 22 July-28 July 2015

“United by differences – Denmark” organized by Erasmus+ Youth Exchange was a great experience. A group of 45 young people from nine countries gathered together to share their ideas and experience during a week project in Copenhagen.

The project’s purpose was to integrate people from different cultures in a united group. The host prepar
ed interesting games, sport activities, and intellectual tasks that helped us to have a very friendly approach towards each other. For instance, in the first day we were challenged to learn the other guest’s name through a game. The rule was that every participant chooses a sign to represent himself. You can imagine what an intense memory exercise is be to remember 45 names plus their related signs within few minutes. Of course, the game was the perfect icebreaker that brought good humor in our group.

The project’s subject of discussion was “Social Exclusion”. So, we were challenged to discuss on this topic by defining the concept, understanding the historical examples of social exclusion, highlighting the disadvantages, and proposing solutions to eradicate this type of behavior from our society. We formed about six teams and every team presented their work on this topic. The presentations had creative styles such as interactive questions, drawings, and even a spontaneous piece of theatre was presented. I loved that everyone was open to hear others ideas and in the meantime to express his own thoughts.

The intercultural exchange was also experienced through the country presentations. Every group exposed the history, traditions, life style, preferences, achievements, and other interesting aspects of their country. We shared our views about our own people and found many things in common such as the passion for our identity, the love for our country, the will to avoid the mistakes from the history of our countries, the equal treatment of all people, and the list can go on.

The presentations were also accompanied by traditional food and beverage brought by the participants. We made high-class publicity to the products that we brought informing each other about the background and why we think that those products represent our countries. Further, the socialization was fulfilled through chatting, laughing, dancing, and happy faces. I would say that after seven days everyone felt like a member of a big family.

And, last but not least is that our host, Serhat Baran, took care of everything in order to give the best treatment to the participants. He gained our trust instantly, as he warmly welcomed everyone and also during our stay there he showed tremendous patience to find solutions for any problem.

Finally, the project was perfectly designed for young people that are looking to discover people from different countries and exchange their experience together. I would highly recommend to any of my friends to invest their time and to participate in Erasmus+ Youth Exchange projects.

By Irina Zatic

“Tehnology for Creative Thinking“

training course in Malta 22-28 October 2016

I had the opportunity to become participant at Technology of Creative Thinking in Malta. Why have I chosen this opportunity in becoming one of participants of Moldova at the training? Because, I believed that doing so I’m making good use of my academic professional background, coupled with the rare but treasured asset of further developing my knowledge in a field of work for which I have the highest interest and strongest admiration. I have an MA in European Studies from College of Europe and a BA in political science. I pursued an internship with the European Commission, working in the communications department, drafting the foreign policy and human rights section of the yearly country profile so much I wanted to know more about artistic techniques as I work with young people and I need to use them a lot. We used a collection of games/exercises of theatre, dance, music and per formatives art. The main learning outcomes was the ability to express ideas creatively through a variety of media, including music, performing arts, literature and the visual arts; awareness of their non-verbal language.

What inspired me is that we start a discussion about what are stereotypes, how they are formed and why they exist. The presentation discusses these topics through the prism of art. Art is an interesting catalyst to start a discussion about stereotypes from since art and beauty are subjective, and the questions what is art and an artist are great initiators for discussion about what we think and expect things should be/look like and why. I believe in making a change. My focus is on making a difference. If I’m going to be on this earth there is a necessity to make a difference. If you are not making someone else’s life better then you are wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other lives better so I belie arts can make our life’s much better.. I believe that I can create whatever I want to create. And that is to make the world a better place. Morover I want to thank organizers and very professional trainers for this opportunity that I had in Malta between 18-27 October 2017.

Kind regards,

Ion Axenti

The training ”
Technology for creative thinking” was organized
by CROSS CULTURE INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION CCIF with the
support of Malta
National Agency (NA) between 18-27 October 2017.
The training was designed as a process of informal learning
and peer education
using participants who work with young people, have
experience in the fields of

youth work, youth arts and international cooperation.
Participants from Malta, Russian
Federation, Moldova (Republic of), Estonia, Armenia,
Ukraine, Italy and Germany
had an active input in sharing knowledge and experience, and
learned new skills
in and surrounding the dramatic arts and inter-cultural
youth work, from the
trainers and each other. This active participation
encouraged ownership of the
learning, motivation and commitment to working together,
building effective
international working relationships, making the training an
exercise in best
practice.

The organizers were
focused on the individual creative development of
each participant and sharing such inter-cultural competences
as appreciative
inquiry, open minded personality, respect and trust, mutual
understanding and
team work. Through cultural relationships they generated
opportunities for
individuals to fulfill their potential and foster the
co-operation that contributes
to a stable world.

Using theatrical
arts within the Erasmus+ Program, was a very valuable tool
for developing
inter-cultural learning, cooperation, and quality projects
in the youth field
among all the regions concerned. After the project, we
created inter-cultural
youth projects and networks with the various participant
organizations within
Europe, Eastern Europe and Caucasus.

We also included
unemployed young people and youth from socially
disadvantaged backgrounds.

Youth get to know
further the awareness and the knowledge of topics
concerning theatrical art, improve competencies,
acquaintanceships and abilities,
which are necessary to work on long-term
projects.

With open space,
technology participants shared knowledge and
experience, and learned new skills in and surrounding the
dramatic arts and
inter-cultural youth work. This active participation
encouraged ownership of
the learning, motivation and commitment to working together,
building effective
international working relationships, making the training an
exercise in best
practice. Participants that participated in our training
course ” Technology
for creative thinking” from Russia, Moldova and Estonia
organized national
events with youth on the topic of the training course. They
reached different
target groups, especially young people with fewer
opportunities as well
minorities, the ones who are not the most active and to whom
it’s hard to reach
(as there are so many active young people). Participants
also used the techniques
required at our training course ” Technology for
creative thinking” at
other international training activities from different
European corners – they
exchanged experiences between them (for example how to reach
young people with
less opportunities, how to involve everyone
etc).

“All together – in all inclusive sports”

Poland, Trzcianka 12-17 July 2017

During 12-17 July 2017, I had the opportunity to go to Poland, Trzcianka and to attend an extraordinary training course called “All together – in all inclusive sports.” It was an extremely interesting project, the participants were friendly and we spent together a beautiful week. The whole team from Moldova have been united and active so we have highlighted ourselves in comparison with others and represented the country at a high level. The trainer was an inexhaustible source of interesting, useful information and the workshops were very interactive and challenging. We acquired knowledge on the inclusion of socially disadvantaged people through sport. As participant from Moldova, I was selected by the CEDES NGO, which also wrote the project to the European Commission. I want to thank all those involved in making this extraordinary event.

“ToT Let’ Play a Game”

Favara, Italy 11-20/09/2017

Lets Play a game!

On the 11th of August, representatives from Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia,

Germany, Moldova, Romania, Russia, as well as Italians, gathered at Tre Torri Hotel, not far from Favara, Italy to find out what is a simulation game, share their experience, and improve their leadership skills.

The training course “ToT Let’ Play a Game” was held as part of Erasmus+ projects. The program was led by Daniela Alexeiciuc and consisted of various activities. Young activists and local leaders from all over Europe participated in diverse exercises focused on simulation games.

Enacting fictitious scenarios, such as discussing a development plan of a city, or composing a survival strategy in a galaxy falling apart, the participants broadened their vision of contemporary society in its complexity, got to know the difficulties of creating a social balance and maintaining control of a situation, and developed their social communication skills. They practiced in managing public discussions, resolvingconflicts, and finding compromises. Such skills are of critical importance in the challenging situation that Europe and the whole world are facing now. As a final contribution, the participants exercised in developing their own simulation games.

Free Minds in Action,

the Italian

hosting NGO that organized the project, and its head Issam Regragui Soussi, warmly welcomed all the participants in Italy, and secured an impressive cultural program of the event that

included a visit to the Valle dei Templi, Scala dei Turchi, and sights in Favara, as well the famous Farm Cultural Park.

It was a creative and a challenge week and thanks to the Cypriot NGO PlanBe, Plan it, be it we got the opportunity to broaden our horizons for new experiences.

Make a difference through Social Entrepreneurship

A tool to fight unemployment and tackle social problems

Unemployment has been continuously rising in Europe and has affected dramatically the younger population. At the same time the world has many problems to face like hunger, lack of clean water and many deceases.

Entrepreneurship can be a powerful tool to fight against unemployment but social problems remain unsolved. Social Entrepreneurship is the new way of doing business! The main difference between the two is that social entrepreneurs prioritize social problems over profit.

More than 30 youngsters from France, Russian Federation, Moldova, Italy, Ukraine, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Spain, Poland and Romania received training though non – formal education regarding social entrepreneurship as part of an Erasmus+ training course in Paris, France.

Through the various activities, the participants learnt how to: spot potential problems and solutions, put their business ideas on paper, design a business plan and work in a diversified team.

During the one week training course participants had

also the opportunity to get to know each others’ culture and taste some traditional delicacies and drinks while having ‘non – formal’ fun.

Eventually, the course provided fundamental knowledge on how to create a social business and consequently create new jobs and diminish unemployment.

Cyprus participated in the program with a team of 3 persons via the CEDES NGO Moldova

““Social Entrepreneurship As A Tool For Innovation””

London – Country: United Kingdom

from 01-11-2017 until 09-11-2017

Our Association CEDES Moldova had the opportunity to be partner in ““Social Entrepreneurship As A Tool For Innovation”” from 01-11-2017 until 09-11-2017. Venue of the Training was London – Country: United Kingdom. We had an exciting opportunity to participate at Observing the European region, two major problems are regularly encountered among youth’s society. On one hand, there is a disproportionate level of educated but unemployed youth, and on the other hand, a growing problem with social exclusion, discrimination and lack of access to human rights that threaten society and especially vulnerable groups. We had explored the current situation regarding unemployment and social exclusion and the link between them as well we worked with the social entrepreneurship principles. We had learned how the Erasmus+ Programme can support youth activities, actually we are very lucky we can benefit from Erasmus+ opportunities as it gives life changes experiences. We had increased entrepreneurial skills especially social entrepreneurial skills. We had learned different things and we are happy with the training course. As well we had a chance to meet each other, acquire new skills, learn a lot about social entrepreneurship, create our own projects on this subject and share our experiences that we have undertaken in our countries.After that we were learning in non-formal way about the situation of unemployment in each of the participants’ countries, also in reference to people with fewer opportunities in every country and how the countries protect groups by laws. This was the best experience in my fine. Ion Axenti

“Let’s Enjoy the Game” 14th – 20th December 2017, Spain

international training course

Spain – San Sebastian

Our training was based at the professional trainers, good places which we visited and nice persons who was very active and help each other to make our training much more interesting and gain faster information from lesson. For me this project was very interesting because I find new friends from different countries which shared they experience in “Expertise and Simulation games”, when you have only theory its one but when you have practicing in simulation it’s totally different, you can understand better and easier. Spain have a lot of historical places where you can visited one of it is “La Sagrada Familia” one of the world’s most famous churches, designed by the renowned architect Antoni Gaudi. Basque is special place where I visited mountain 768m above the sea and near is very beautiful blue sea with one island. That why I can say it was unique experience I lived and I want say big thanks for this Erasmus+ and organizers for they work, I hope to see them again and implemented all knowledge which I gain in our NGO CEDES!!!

2 Responses to Events

If you like new Experience, if you like discovering new culture meet very interesting people with the same vision as you this is where you should be, taking part in the training programs offered by CEDES.

I took part in Kobuleti Georgia on AVP meeting and was fascinated by how we been meet as vip-s and been looked after for entirely program,

The training is amazing the experience is unique and coming back home you are feeling different more experienced and more confident.

I would like to thank the organizations and co-ordinators of this project , and I am only sorry that I was not able to go there second time,